The fact that Westmeath have long been nailed on favourites for relegation from Division One is probably influenced by their last brief spell in the top flight.

An encouraging 2008 campaign saw them win Division Two outright, beating Dublin in the final, and they were formidable opposition in that year’s Championship, losing narrowly only to eventual Leinster and All-Ireland champions Dublin and Tyrone respectively. The bubble burst after that though.

They lost all of their League games in 2009 and were already relegated by the time they played their last fixture against Dublin at Parnell Park.

The result may have been academic but it was hugely traumatic.

Having been on Dublin’s coattails the year before, they lost by 5-22 to 0-10. When they met in the Championship later that summer, 27 points separated them once again.

It proved to be double All-Star winning defender John Keane’s last League game for the county.

“We went well 2004, 2006, 2008 and we found it hard to replicate it year on year,” he says. “I know that was a different situation.

“We had a lot of experienced guys in 2008 and then through injury or retirement we were kind of depleted through the League in 2009 and for us, going into Division One depleted is a serious uphill battle.

“There are probably lot of young guys playing at the minute that would have been introduced to the panel around that time, Kieran Martin, Ger Egan, Denis Coroon; Kieran Gavin would have only come in the previous year as well.

“They were getting thrown in at that stage and getting it very hard. I remember it knocked the stuffing out of us and it was very hard to regroup before the Championship came around.”

Westmeath’s climb through the divisions in the last couple of years has been backboned by the under-21 side that reached the Leinster final, losing narrowly to Dublin.

“They had somebody like Dean Rock playing that day and I remember thinking this guy was an outstanding footballer and still you don’t see him until 2013 nearly,” said Keane.

“You even see young (Cormac) Costello, I remember seeing him playing minor. If he was in any other county outside of the top three or four he would have been immediately first choice.”

Maintaining their top flight status won’t be easy but with the current side at a more youthful stage in their development, Keane gives them a better chance than his team of five years ago.

“It’s going to be very, very tough for them. I think they need to put in creditable performances and build on it, especially with a young bunch of guys, they need to be winning League games.

“It’s very, very important for them to stay up and bring some sort of confidence going into it. In 2004 we were Division One and we got a couple of trimmings.

“We beat Mayo in the last game of the League and we managed to stay up. Just by staying up it bred confidence and it was a whole different mindset.”